Intuitive Machines

Intuitive Machines, Inc.
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: LUNR
IndustryAerospace
Founded2013; 11 years ago (2013)
Founders
Headquarters
Houston, Texas
,
U.S.
Key people
Steve Altemus (president and CEO)
ProductsLunar lander, Mission Control Center, Ground stations, additive manufacturing
Number of employees
250+ (as of 27 October 2023) (135-150, in 2022)
Websitewww.intuitivemachines.com

Intuitive Machines, Inc. is an American space exploration company headquartered in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 2013 by Stephen Altemus,[1] Kam Ghaffarian, and Tim Crain, to provide lunar surface access, lunar orbit delivery, and communication from lunar distance.[2] Intuitive Machines holds three NASA contracts under the space agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme,[3] to deliver payloads to the lunar surface.[4] Among these, the company holds a contract to develop a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV).[5]

The privately held Intuitive Machines, LLC,[6] became a public company after merging with a special-purpose acquisition company, Inflection Point Acquisition Corp., in February 2023. The company is listed on the Nasdaq, incorporated in Delaware.[7] On February 22, 2024, the Odysseus IM-1 spacecraft landed on the Moon. It was the first privately built craft to land on the Moon, and the first American spacecraft to do so since 1972.[8][9][10][11] The Odysseus lander fell on its side when landing, but its instruments remained partially functional (albeit with a reduced downlink capacity),[12] so the mission was judged successful.[13]

  1. ^ Fernholz, Tim. "NASA taps Intuitive Machines to build a lunar communications network". Fast Company. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  2. ^ Leinfelder, Andrea (June 5, 2019). "Houston-based Intuitive Machines to be among first private U.S. Companies to land on the moon". Chron. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  3. ^ Amos, Jonathan (February 23, 2024). "Intuitive Machines: Odysseus Moon lander 'tipped over on touchdown'". BBC.
  4. ^ Potter, Sean (November 17, 2021). Fox, Karen; Handal, Josh; Ramji, Nilufar (eds.). "NASA Selects Intuitive Machines for New Lunar Science Delivery" (Press release). NASA. 21-157. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ @SpaceEquities (March 30, 2024). "EXCLUSIVE: Intuitive Machines $LUNR consortium awarded NASA LTV contract. On the..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "Certificate of Incorporation of Intuitive Machines, Inc". SEC.gov. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 10, 2023. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  7. ^ Foust, Jeff (February 13, 2023). "Intuitive Machines completes SPAC merger". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on April 24, 2024. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  8. ^ Sheetz, Michael (February 22, 2024). "Intuitive Machines lands on the moon in historic first for a U.S. company". CNBC. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  9. ^ Chang, Kenneth (February 22, 2024). "A U.S.-Built Spacecraft Lands on the Moon for the First Time Since 1972". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  10. ^ Chow, Denise (February 23, 2024). "Privately built lunar lander makes history with successful moon touchdown". NBC News. Archived from the original on February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  11. ^ Sriram, Akash; Varghese, Harshita Mary; Roulette, Joey; Randewich, Noel; Satija, Bhanvi (February 23, 2024). Chakrabarty, Saumyadeb; Kalluvila, Sriraj; Koyyur, Arun; Desai, Pooja; Oatis, Jonathan (eds.). "Intuitive Machines rockets higher after landing spacecraft on moon". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 25, 2024. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  12. ^ Harwood, William (February 24, 2024). "Odysseus moon lander tipped over onto its side during touchdown, company says - CBS News". CBS. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  13. ^ Davenport, Christian. "The tense final moments as Intuitive Machines pulled off a moon landing". Retrieved September 24, 2024.